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Greetings, MetroMan here, and this is my 02 RaceReport.
I call it my "'02 Race Report" because its a report from a mostly '02-centric point of view. Of course it might be from a
MoPar-centric point of view, AMC-centric point of view, BMC-centric point of view,
Nash-Centric, Studebaker-centric and any other
INTERESTING-centric point of view that I happen to deem fit at the time.
This probably won't be a REGULARLY SCHEDULED feature,
nor a complete coverage sort of thing, just a general overview of Vintage Racing events I attend
with some race pictures of 2002s in the pits and on the tracks.
This installment's Feature:
The Chrysler Classic Speed Festival Coronado: San Diego, CA. Nov. 13-15
The Vintage car races took place on Coronado island on one of the airplane runways at the North Island Naval base.
The event was sponsored by Chrysler and organized by the same people who bring you the Monterey Historic Races every year.
This was the second year the Coronado race was held, and from what I understand,
the current contract specs one more of these events with the possibility of more in the future as well.
On entering the gates I was pleased to be bypassing the hordes, traffic and vast deserts of parking by
riding into the pits with my pal Kip who was driving the event. Kip races
for the Joe Puckett Race Team and drives a Miller Crosley H-Mod. The car was built in 1956 by local race legend Don Miller. Powered by a 750cc
Crosley engine, it was one of several H-Mods out there and raced in
group 1 along with the pre-war sports racers.
Another Car racing in group 1 was this Beautiful 1912 air-cooled Franklin. This car won the Los Angeles to Phoenix race in 1912.
It was by far the oldest racer at the track that weekend with the next oldest being a mid-thirties Alfa Romeo. While the Franklin was no speed demon out on the track (I lost track of how many times it was lapped by the race leader), it was a favorite of the crowds everytime it came around the track. The car also took an award as the people's favorite of the weekend.
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| I just couldn't resist showing you this lovely little lotus. |
OK, I'll move along to the BMW's now. The 2002 was represented this year by a lone pair of '02s being run in group 7 by Cunningham BMW, a local BMW dealership. Group 7 was the Trans Am series cars. For those of you not familiar with Trans Am racing, there were 2 classes; over 2 liters and under2 liters. Our two '02s were the only under 2 litre representatives on the track and were a bit overshadowed by the big American cars. This track was littered with Mustang-amaros, but other than the '02s, the only other interesting cars out there was a 1970 AMC Javelin and a gorgeous lime-green Dodge Challenger.
Oh the Crushment by the AMC Javelin! By far the fastest car and driver out there, the Javelin grabbed an early lead during Saturday's race and never let go finishing a full 10 to 15 seconds ahead of the second place car, while our two BMW's managed to hold their own out on the track.
The Dodge Challenger didn't make it out on the track for Saturday's race due to a mechanical fault, so it had to start at the very back of the starting grid for Sunday's race, but managed to work it's way into seventh place by the checker.
BMW #35 got himself black flagged during Sunday's race leaving his team mate in #34 to take the flag for their class. Meanwhile the AMC Javelin lead most of the race again until spinning out and bowing out near the end. With the Javelin gone and the Dodge still many cars back, the way was cleared for one of the many Camar-ustangs to take the flag for the race.
Group seven was of course, the last race of the day being the crowd pleaser that would make the public stay until the bitter end, and they weren't disappointed. The trans-am class was definitely an exciting event, and well worth sticking around for. Overall the weekend was great fun, but I got tired of hearing the announcers urge all of us to visit the "Vendor Village". Vendor village was a group of tents and booths where over-priced
souvenirs, clothing and food could be had.
There was also a meager display by Chrysler that paled in comparison to the display of Chrysler 300s they had at the "Tustin Thunder" event in August.
Coronado was the last big vintage racing event of the season, I'm not sure when things start up again in '99, but I thinkVARA (the Vintage Auto Racing Association) has an event in late March out in Buttonwillow. I'll try to get a schedule of vintage racing events from the various clubs together for all of you soon. I'll especially focus on west coast events that would include 2002s. So go out to the track to see your favorite car raced as it was back when it was new. And if you can't get to the track read about it in the '02 racing report.
Have Fun!
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